A few examples of the genre should suffice...
The Longest Yard
The Bad News Bears
Slapshot
North Dallas Forty
Fast Break
Meatballs(not technically sports, but summer-camp culture is pretty closely aligned, and IIRC it ends with a sports match that Bill Murray encourages them to lose)
All The Marbles(never saw it, but I'm assuming, based on how it was marketed)
And the thematic gist can probably be summed up by the tagline for Fast Break...
(As I recall, the "girl" mentioned there is actually one of those sexually/gender ambiguous characters you used to see in those days, when the writers were reluctant to identify someone as outright gay or trans.)
As this review sums it up, the genre supposedly met its demise with Reagan's Morning In America and Field Of Dreams.
So, is there any way to keep it going? Or is it just a case of changing tastes, and audiences getting tired of indulging cynical takes on cherished American pastimes?
The Longest Yard
The Bad News Bears
Slapshot
North Dallas Forty
Fast Break
Meatballs(not technically sports, but summer-camp culture is pretty closely aligned, and IIRC it ends with a sports match that Bill Murray encourages them to lose)
All The Marbles(never saw it, but I'm assuming, based on how it was marketed)
And the thematic gist can probably be summed up by the tagline for Fast Break...
His dream team's got a preacher, a jailbird, a pool shark, a muscleman. And the best guy on the team is a girl.
(As I recall, the "girl" mentioned there is actually one of those sexually/gender ambiguous characters you used to see in those days, when the writers were reluctant to identify someone as outright gay or trans.)
As this review sums it up, the genre supposedly met its demise with Reagan's Morning In America and Field Of Dreams.
So, is there any way to keep it going? Or is it just a case of changing tastes, and audiences getting tired of indulging cynical takes on cherished American pastimes?